Chitting Potatoes

Now is the time of year out thoughts turn towards potatoes - that marvellous crop so beloved of our culture.  There are so many varieties, so many delicious ways of eating and they are easy to grow.  I know they can take up a lot of space but there's room in most gardens for a row of delicious gourmet new potatoes and you can always create a bed somewhere else for others. I know some people think that potatoes are cheap and plentiful but its not always easy to get a well flavoured disease free spud when you want one. It's sometimes a lottery opening a sack purchased from the supermarket and hoping you get a good one.  As usual - if you grow them yourself then you will know what has gone in them and on them.  

If you only have room for some "earlies" and want them for Christmas then you will need to get them into the ground by the beginning of September. Which means preparing the seed now.  For early crops I love Cliffs Kidney and Jersey Benne but there are many to choose from. I've got some weird looking knobbly Pink Firs on the go. Make sure you label them though so you know what you are planting!

Chitting. 

The word "chitting" comes from the early English word that means children - the words "kitten" and "cub" have the same root.  You may have had some potatoes at the bottom of the pantry put out long shoots - it is just showing that they are getting ready to produce new plants.  It really means to sprout, and its about preparing your seed potatoes for planting. 

Its a good idea to purchase your seed from the store as they are guaranteed disease free but plenty of people choose clean disease free seed from their own crop.  This is how old varieties have survived over the years.  Put the seed potatoes into egg trays with the eyes looking up  and then pop in a warm dry light place (but not direct sunlight)for them to start sprouting. I also use wooden trays lined with straw for bigger crops.  If lots of 'eyes' have sprouted rub some off leaving 2-3 strong ones.  Get them in the ground before they get too lanky though. 

In the meantime you can also get a head start on the season by warming up the ground where your plants are going to go.  Lay down black polythene, frost cloth, a cloche, an old window - anything that is going to warm up the soil.   If you have a plastic or glasshouse then you can get them in the ground sooner as well - but I will be waiting for a few weeks yet. 

Farewell to a Gardening Aunty.

Well July is nearly over and I have not checked in this month - sorry everyone.  It's been a big month taken up with family and some travel up north.  

Farewell to a Gardening Aunt. 

We had the privilege of sitting with a dear Great Aunt, known as Aunty Michelle to many,  as she passed away well into her 80's this month. It was only a massive stroke that stopped her in her tracks - up to that point she was a vibrant, funny, busy and hardworking woman and it was no fun for her or us to see her stricken down and no longer able to look after herself.  Like many of her era she was a legend in the work department.  She was brought up during the Depression years in the Gorge Rd area, east of Invercargill and photos of the early days show a raw bleak landscape.  The whole family worked and worked hard. 

In later years she never married and so made it her business to spend time with her siblings and their families so got to know all her nieces and nephews and in turn our children.  She made us all feel listened to and special and was always ready with a funny story. 

I remember when she used to come and visit me in my big rural property in North West Auckland. At one time we had some young blokes employed on a work scheme to do some orchard and garden work.  Even in her 70's she worked them into the ground. It greatly amused her to work over a garden bed and watch out to the corner of her eye 3 young men do a fraction of the output she could. And she worked well after knock off time. And more recently she would regularly visit my parents in Hampden and woe betide any cup left on the table or weed daring to pop it's head above the ground. The cup would be whisked away, washed dried and back in the cupboard. The weed would have its head off in a flash.  She did follow the "scorched earth" school of gardening though so Mum would try to get in and get the garden tidied before Aunty Michelle arrived.  She loved bright colours and flowers so I have cuttings of some of her red geraniums to go in and remind us of her. 

She helped me through some hard times and I know I was not the only one. She was vitally interested in every baby, child and young person in her extended family. And in the last few weeks we met some of her friends - many from her early days in Dunedin and Southland her were her friends to the end - and heard more stories about this amazing woman.  Dear Michelle - we will never forget you.  RIP Michelle Mary Kemp 1929-2014
(The photo shows her reading us a funny story and then having a laugh!  Go Aunty!)